


Whatever Tomorrow Brings

by poetsandzombies



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hostage Situations, identities secret from the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-02-03 23:17:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1759427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetsandzombies/pseuds/poetsandzombies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>while steve and tony are being captured and held hostage in separate rooms, Steve wonders what will happen to them now that  the world knows who they are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whatever Tomorrow Brings

"What's your secret, _captain_?" The last word is a snarl that rolls mockingly off of the man's tongue. The blonde slumped against the wall beneath him grins mechanically, teeth dirt-crusted, cheeks sore and caked with blood, as he lets the question expand in his mind.

He and Iron Man have a lot of secrets. 

Their identities, for one. Masked heroes with second lives they like to keep only among themselves and a few trusted allies. Hoping that they could create a small world for themselves, to live when living seemed unbearable, to breathe where breathing felt impossible, and to _be together_  without the eyes of society announcing their every word and every touch.

But now it's  _Steve Rogers_  under the watchful glare of an enemy, being called Captain, mask torn to shreds and scattered across the small, dingy room that surrounds him. And it's...—Steve swallows hard, smile fading—it's  _Tony_  in the next room, beaten and confused and weakly calling out for Steve over and _over,_ the strained desperation in his voice making Steve's heart beat out of his chest in hopes of finding Tony's. 

That secret is long since gone, has been ripped from their heads with no delicacy, dissected, and spat on.

So what secret, then, is he looking for? 

It's their weakness, Steve knows. 

Perhaps the answer, he thinks, is that there's weakness at all.

That at night, while the others sleep, they are a burden to themselves, finding comfort in each other's arms. They live in a world that does not know Tony Stark is a broken man, that when he sleeps, it's curled tightly into Steve, face buried in his chest, breathing lightly through the soft cotton of his t-shirt. They live in a world that does not know Steve Rogers' motivation to keep on moving comes from the dull, flickering glow of Tony's arc reactor, that he's associated it with Tony's _life_  and these days he cannot sleep if he can't see blue.

They are each other's weaknesses. Iron Man and Captain America can hide this all they want. But for Steve and Tony, who are constantly put in danger because of their superhero counterparts, it is their most dangerous flaw. 

Built to one day destroy them.

So now, with secrets unraveled and secrets waiting to be told, what would become of them? They have fought so many battles, but their biggest was for each other. And now? It seems it will have been for nothing. 

Steve bides his time thinking these things over as he feels the pathetic knots on his wrist beginning to loosen. He distracts the man holding him hostage with questionable looks that frustrate him.

"So?" The man presses angrily when he doesn't get the reaction he's hoping for. "Out with it, then. Your boyfriend's not getting out any time soon unless we get some answers." 

Steve ignores the jibe meant to fire him up. He knows he's lying anyway: no one in this building has any intention to let either of them live. They're just taking their normal precautions, getting any information out of them that they can before finishing them off. 

Instead he takes his time, rolling his head to the side in thought as the last few knots become undone and at last the ropes made especially for him fall to the ground and he allows himself to smile once again. 

"We're an open book," Steve lies before rolling back on his back, using his hands and the strength in his arms to lift himself off the ground, his feet catching on the man's chest and knocking him down before landing steadily on the ground. He glances down quickly to see he has knocked the guy out before proceeding out of the room in search of Tony. 

  
_It will always be like this now_ , he thinks as he rushes frantically through the halls, panic rising in his throat as he realizes that there are no doors, just a faint voice calling for him beyond the walls. There will be no safe place, no part of the world, known or unknown, where they can hide. They are exposed now, for everything that they are, and Steve knows he can no longer protect Tony the way he could before. What will become of them?

He gives up on finding a door and begins ramming into the wall itself, barging through as if it's paper thin. On the other side, he finds himself in another room. He looks around frantically and finally, thankfully, sees Tony leaning against the wall opposite him, bruised and battered, but very much _alive_ , and the relief that floods through him is dizzying.

"Oh god," He chokes out, making his way over to Tony, pulling him into his arms so fiercely that it knocks them back against the wall, "Oh, thank god," He whispers into his neck, pressing kisses along his shoulder, holding him gently, but urgently. 

"Steve?" Tony's fingers tremble against his back, but Steve only answers with more kisses, kisses to neck, kisses to his jaw, kisses to tell him he loves him, kisses to let him know just how glad he is that he's alive. He cups Tony's cheeks in each of his hands and kisses his mouth, swallowing Tony's soft 'I love you's. Who knows how much more they will be able to do this in private?

All Steve knows now is that Tony's alive, and that he loves him.

And so he kisses him.


End file.
